“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” – Sydney J. Harris As we enter the period where students and parents get ready to head back to school, I find myself thinking about education in general. Receiving an education can open minds to new perspectives, and knowledge obtained is (hopefully) gained forever. […]

“The giving of love is an education in itself.” – Eleanor Roosevelt In the English language, love is a word that has many different dimensions. It is uniquely personal, as no experience with it is exactly the same, and yet it is an experience that we all strive to understand better. Love is the foundation […]

“If music be the food of love, play on.” – William Shakespeare With the world feeling so heavy and dark right now, music is a language that can truly speak to the soul. It takes over when words fail and can feel like the soft moonlight only seen in the darkest of nights. It expresses […]

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” – Mark Twain Between the popularity of Wordle and other word games, thoughts about words have been constantly percolating in the back of my mind. On a recent trip to New York, I popped […]

Sometimes everything can be overwhelming. There have been several times during the last few years with the pandemic, war, and the terrible news cycle, where it all just feels like too much. Even my usual methods of escaping into a new world or character can feel like just another thing to be accomplished rather than […]

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” Amelia Earhart In this toast to trailblazing women, I wanted to recommend memoirs and biographies of women who have changed history in eight different fields. There is a politician, an activist, a scientist, a writer, an artist, a sportswoman, a business […]

“The books that help you the most are those which make you think the most.” – Carlos Ruiz Zafón It’s no surprise that book clubs are still going strong as we head deeper into 2022. There is something immensely satisfying about connecting with other readers and discussing books. It doesn’t matter whether you hated or […]

Happy New Year! As promised in my December column, a few of our reader favorites from 2021 were The Push by Ashley Audrain, The Rainbow by Carly Schabowski, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell, and Intimacies by Katie Kitamura. To celebrate a new year of fantastic books, I […]

As the year wraps up and we cross our fingers that our gifts will arrive on time, I am continuing the tradition I started several years ago of sharing my top books for 2021. I hope you find something new or see that one of your favorites made my list! Fiction What Strange Paradise by […]